Frog Watch

Frog populations have been monitored along the Moonee Ponds Creek for over a decade. Melbourne Water’s call for volunteers made headlines in the 2nd edition of Ponderings (Summer 2002). Recognised as a valuable measure of the health of the environment the presence of frogs is always a welcome sign in our waterways.

Over the years recording equipment has progressed from old movie cameras, to cassette voice recorders to digital voice recorders and mobile phones. Today anyone can be a citizen scientist, recording and uploading the wonderful chorus of our local frogs. Residents who remember the creek before the Tullamarine Freeway, recall fondly when frogs could be heard along the entire length of the Moonee Ponds Creek. Some even say they could hardly sleep nights with the racket. Today frog populations are more fragmented but there is little doubt about their resilience in tough environmental times. This was best expressed with the rapid return of frogs, even the endangered growling grass frogs, when the rains came after years of drought in the Jacana Wetlands.

Populations in the Jacana Wetlands and the upper reaches of Moonee Ponds Creek have been the most closely monitored.